A Month of Soup: Lemongrass Chicken-the leftovers that keep on giving!

Okay, this one takes some prep as in at least a day before. One day I made slow cooker lemon grass chicken, and when the chicken was cooked, I removed it to shred it off the bones. Then, before returning the chicken to the slow cooker, I noticed how much broth there was, so I removed 1 quart of the broth and froze it along with 1 cup of shredded chicken. Then I proceeded to serve my lemon grass chicken as planned.

With the leftover lemongrass chicken and broth, I combined 2 ½ cups cooked rice, ½ package of frozen spinach (thawed and cooked), 1 cup mushrooms, and 1 cup of asiago cheese. I stirred it around a bit and baked it in a casserole dish. Voila! Another meal!

To make the soup, I thawed the broth and chicken and made the soup that follows. FIRST, though, here is my slow cooker Lemon Grass Chicken recipe (which will appear in Prime Rib and Punishment, Book 2 in my “Dinner is Served” culinary mystery series).

Gina’s Lemongrass Chicken (serves 6-8)

8 skinless chicken thighs *

1 T garam masala
2 oz fresh lemongrass, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces OR 3 T lemongrass paste
1 T fresh ginger, roughly chopped
3 14.5 oz cans low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1 t fresh lime juice

1 T lime zest

2 cloves garlic, sliced

¼ - ½ t red pepper flakes (these are hot!)

2 T fish sauce

16-24 Butter crunch lettuce leaves

Pkg of glass noodles, cooked or shirataki noodles, warmed

*Alli rips off as much skin as she can; Gina trims all visible fat with a knife.

Rub garam masala into chicken thighs. Set aside.

Mix lemongrass, ginger, chicken broth, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, red pepper flakes, and fish sauce. Add to a slow cooker. Add chicken and stir around to coat with liquid. Cook on low for six to eight hours.

Remove chicken and shred. Return meat to slow cooker to keep warm in its juices until serving.

Serve on noodles with broth. Spoon into butter crunch lettuce leaves and top with Thai peanut sauce.

Lemongrass Chicken Soup (serves 6)

1 heaping cup cooked brown rice (or Royal rice for more color)

4 cups leftover lemongrass chicken broth, divided

1 cup carrot coins

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 cup shredded lemongrass chicken

1 cup frozen peas

Cook rice and set aside. Add ½ cup lemongrass chicken broth to soup pot. Add carrot coins and garlic. Cook until carrots softened. Add remaining broth, lemongrass chicken, and rice. Stir. Bring to slow simmer. Remove from heat. Add frozen peas. Let sit 5 minutes. The barely-cooked peas add a nice fresh green taste. Serve.

DH’s rating: 3 Tongues Up The original recipe I made had 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. TOOOO much. Even though the rice helped tame the pepper flakes a bit, it was still too hot for him as the heat overpowered the underlying flavors. Next time, I’ll use the adjusted recipe above. This is great served with challah!